Working in a multicultural world

We pioneered use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator instrument in global organizations and multicultural settings more than a decade ago, and we have led training programs focusing on type or using type in a dozen different countries and with clients from every continent. The following information about type and culture is discussed in more depth, with summaries of relevant research in the following chapters:

“Multicultural Applications,” by Linda K. Kirby and Nancy J. Barger, in MBTI Applications, Allen L. Hammer, ed., CPP, Inc., 1996, pp. 167 – 196.

“Uses of Type in Multicultural Settings,” by Linda K Kirby and Nancy J. Barger, in MBTI Manual, 3rd ed., by I.B. Myers, M.H. McCaulley,

Carl G. Jung, who developed the theory of psychological type, believed that underlying type preferences were innate. Isabel Myers and Katharine Briggs, who created the Myers-Briggs type Indicator Instrument to make his theory accessible, agreed with Jung’s view.

At the same time, Jung, Myers, and Briggs also recognized the role culture plays in individual development.

If a plant is to unfold its specific nature to the full, it must first be able to grow in the soil in which it is planted.
- Carl G. Jung
  Psychological Types

The hypothesis is that type is inborn, an innate predisposition like right- or left-handedness, but the successful development of type can be greatly helped or hindered by environment from the beginning.
- Isabel Briggs Myers
  Gifts Differing

From our own experience with the MBTI® instrument, we have come to believe that psychological type does identify some basic human differences, common to people in a wide variety of cultures. At the same time, cultural norms and values influence the ways people develop and express their type preferences. That is, the surface behaviors of people with similar type preferences will look somewhat different, much as a rose that grows in the rich soil and moist climate of Portland, Oregon, looks quite different from the same plant trying to survive in the clay soil and arid climate of Denver, Colorado. They are both still identifiable as a rose, but the outward appearance varies tremendously.

The MBTI® instrument does a remarkably good job of indicating psychological type preferences in a wide variety of cultures. And, fortunately, we now have many validated translations and scoring systems that make the instrument and theory even more usable outside the U.S.

This allows us to offer our training programs, with appropriate modifications, to groups in countries outside the U.S. and to multicultural groups – teams in global organizations consisting of people from different cultures or culturally mixed teams in North America.

Type as a Bridge

Because psychological type and the MBTI® instrument identify common human characteristics, this approach can also provide a bridge for understanding in programs where diversity and cultural differences are the focus. It allows a group to come together as human beings, in a positive way, while exploring their differences.

We have successfully delivered all of our consulting and training programs in countries and cultures outside the U.S., Canada, UK, Belgium, Finland, India, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Singapore, and others. All of the consulting and training programs we offer can be presented in cultures outside the U.S. or with multicultural groups.

Please contact us with questions about training or about the use of the MBTI® instrument, availability of translations and materials, or professional contacts in countries outside North America.